Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics
Michigan High School Athletic Association - Promoting Educational Athletics |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - March 4, 2005 2005 Forsythe Award To Jim Feldkamp EAST LANSING , Mich. - March 4 - One of the driving forces in high school athletic administration of the past decade, Jim Feldkamp, the recently retired citywide athletic director for Troy Public Schools, is the recipient of the Michigan High School Athletic Association's Charles E. Forsythe Award for 2005. This annual award is in its 28th year of existence and is named after former MHSAA Executive Director Charles E. Forsythe, the Association's first full time and longest-serving chief executive. One or two recipients are selected each year by the MHSAA Representative Council, based on an individual's outstanding contribution to the interscholastic athletics community. Feldkamp will be presented the award on March 19 at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing at halftime of the Boys Basketball Class B Final. Feldkamp spent nearly his entire educational career in athletic administration, where he was instrumental in providing quality programming for young people at the local level; and then as a leader at the statewide level, helping his colleagues deal with the ever-growing, ever-changing responsibilities that go with being an athletic director. After a one-year stint as a coach and physical education instructor at Romeo, Feldkamp moved on to the Anchor Bay school district, beginning in 1971 as a elementary, middle school and high school physical education instructor. He also coached varsity boys basketball for 14 years, subvarsity baseball teams for five years, and was the athletic director at the high school. Among his accomplishments at Anchor Bay were initiating and coordinating fund-raising efforts to maintain the athletic program, keeping it from instituting participating fees or eliminating participation opportunities, and assisting in the development of indoor and outdoor athletic facilities at a new high school building. In 1985, Feldkamp became the director of health, physical education and athletics for the West Bloomfield School District for a four-year period, where he developed a middle school intramural athletic program and introduced a youth fitness component to the district’s physical education curriculum. The move to the Troy School District as citywide athletic administrator came in 1988, where Feldkamp oversaw athletics and physical education programs for two high schools and four middle schools, and became even more involved on the statewide athletic scene. Locally, he led the expansion of athletic offerings in the Troy schools through the introduction of an intramural middle school program, and the launching of 14 high school teams. He implemented fitness, student leadership and sportsmanship programming; a successful summer camp program; an Athletic Advisory Council comprised of student-athletes, parents, coaches and administrators; recognition programs for student-athletes and coaches; and fundraising programs for athletic and non-athletic programs in Troy. On a regional and statewide basis, Feldkamp served as an officer of three conferences, on the board of directors of a conference athletic administrators association, and began a role of leadership in the Michigan Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Working with the MIAAA, Feldkamp was on that organization’s board for 14 years and served as its president during the 1999-2000 school year. He co-chaired a program to recognize schools with exemplary athletic programs, and was a coordinator and presentor for numerous workshops, and that group’s liaison to the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Feldkamp has also contributed to numerous MHSAA committees; presented at Association workshops on athletic administration, coaches education and sportsmanship; and served as a tournament manager for numerous post-season tournaments. The MHSAA previously honored Feldkamp with its Allen W. Bush Award in 2000. The Bush Award, named for the former MHSAA Executive Director, is presented annually to administrators, coaches, officials, trainers, doctors or members of the media with at least 15 years of service to Michigan Interscholastic Athletics with unusually frequent and significant contributions to MHSAA programs. Feldkamp becomes the eighth Bush Award recipient to later be honored with the Forsythe Award. He has previously been honored as a statewide athletic director of the year by MIAAA, and has been the recipient of the Outstanding Service Award from the Oakland County Athletic Directors Association. His community involvement includes work as a youth coach, fundraiser and committee member, and he has twice been honored by the Troy Community Coalition. Feldkamp earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees from Eastern Michigan Unviversity; and a Educational Specialist’s Degree from Wayne State University, where he has also served as an adjunct instructor. He was nominated for the Forsythe Award by Midland Dow High School. “The leadership Jim Feldkamp provided the educational athletic community in his career was truly extraordinary,” said John E. “Jack” Roberts, executive director of the MHSAA. “His accomplishments through physical education curricula during the school day, and extracurricular athletics after school hours helped develop outstanding young people in outstanding athletic programs for outstanding schools, from which those communities truly benefited. On the statewide level, Jim’s work to help our athletic administrator’s association grow and work to benefit its membership was unparralled. When you think of someone with outstanding lifetime service to educational athletics and someone truly worthy of the Charles E. Forsythe Award, it is Jim Feldkamp.” Past recipients of the Charles E. Forsythe Award are: 1978 - Brick Fowler, Port Huron; Paul Smarks, Warren The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by over 1,800 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract approximately 1.6 million spectators each year. -0- RL05-052 Farm Bureau Insurance and MEEMIC Insurance are year-round MHSAA Corporate Partners |